War Erupts    
Rosetta, Spring Gardens, Bulowville -- the largest plantations in
East Florida were systematically
targeted and destroyed. The Seminole allies wrecked mills, burned homes, confiscated livestock and corn.
At each stop they recruited more slaves:
"Depeyster's negroes were traitors, and must have been in league with the Indians," "Upwards of two hundred and fifty negroes … have joined … and are more desperate than the Indians," "the whole of Major Heriot's … negroes … moved off."
By January, almost 300 slaves from Mosquito County alone had
fled to the rebel forces. Months of planning were paying off.
The Black Seminoles and their Indian allies were sparking a
mass uprising.
  
Sources:
Boyd "Seminole" 60-63, The Charleston Courier Jan 12, 21, 22 cited in Porter
Negro 266, Bemrose 12-13. For more on the slave
rebellion, see the . ©
Part 2, War: l |
